Google Gravity, Firefox beta grab attention

Google’s new pet project Google Gravity and internet browser Firefox were among the search terms to experience the greatest growth over the week prior to August 22, according to data from Google Insights.

Google Gravity is a project released on Google’s Chrome browser by Mr. Doob. Chrome users who visit the project’s site will see the typical layout for the Google home page collapse and fall to the bottom of the screen as if under the influence of gravity; the same effect is also applied to search results.

Though the extension has been available since 2010, the search term Google Gravity experienced an 80 percent increase in searches over the past week. The majority of these searches originated in Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt.

Rival internet browser Firefox also experienced popularity over the past seven days with a 40 percent increase in searches. This increase in popularity comes from the release of the latest version of Firefox — Firefox 6.0 — on August 16. This latest version is available to download at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html.

Other popular search terms over the past seven days included mathematician Pierre de Fermat, creator of the famous Fermat’s Last Theorem and subject of a Google Doodle on August 17; Indian social activist Anna Hazare, who is currently on a hunger strike in a protest against corruption; and martial artist Jackie Chan, who recently has been subject to several false rumors regarding his death.